Director Chloé Zhao at the American Independent Film Festival.10
Vibrant weekend at the start of AIFF.10

After the honorable presence of directors Natalie Musteata and Kitty Green at the tenth edition of the American Independent Film Festival, Chloé Zhao joins the festival on Sunday evening, June 7, after the screening of Hamnet (Oscar winner for Best Actress, Jessie Buckley) at Cinema Elvire Popesco. The director will hold an extended Q&A session on Zoom with the audience and festival guests. Tickets are available on eventbook.ro for the screenings in Bucharest (June 5–11), at Cinema Elvire Popesco and Cinema Muzeul Țăranului. In Timișoara (June 5–7) tickets were put on sale on the Cinema Timiș website and at the box office.

AIFF.10 transforms Cinema Elvire Popesco into the hub of independent film
3 days of films, 3 top female directors invited on the opening weekend
June 5, Cinema Elvire Popesco, 6:30 PM: the festival opens with the screening of Two People Exchanging Saliva, directed by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh, winners of the 2026 Oscar for Short Film. The screening is followed by an extended talk, offering an in-depth perspective on the creative process, the themes addressed in the film and the road to the Oscar.

June 6, Cinema Elvire Popesco, 8:00 PM: the second evening of the festival includes the FOCUS AIFF section, dedicated to Australian director Kitty Green, and the first film screened is The Assistant. Ukraine Is Not a Brothel, the second film in FOCUS AIFF, will be shown on June 7, 6:00 PM, Cinema Elvire Popesco. Kitty Green is a filmmaker known for her documentaries, and Ukraine Is Not a Brothel follows the feminist movement FEMEN, offering a complex perspective on activism and the social context behind it.

June 7, Cinema Elvire Popesco, 8:00 PM: The anniversary edition includes two FOCUS AIFF sections, the second of which is dedicated to the famous director Chloé Zhao. The audience will have the opportunity to see (or re-see) the impressive Hamnet. After the screening, Chloé Zhao will engage with the audience through an extended discussion on Zoom, providing details about her creative process. The second film in Chloé Zhao’s FOCUS AIFF is Nomadland (June 9, 8:30 PM, Cinema Elvire Popesco), nominated for Best Picture at the 2021 Academy Awards.

Write a Screenplay For has chosen its 2026 edition finalists

The WRITE A SCREENPLAY FOR… screenplay competition has new finalists. Organized by the Cinemascop Association, with the support of PRO TV, the screenwriting laboratory is a competition dedicated to the new generation of authors who transform courageous ideas into stories with cinematic impact. This year’s theme, “Injustice”, brought dozens of powerful and surprising projects to the jury, which explored injustice in social, historical, intimate or contemporary forms. After the selection process, the finalist projects in the Feature Film and Miniseries categories were chosen from 170 registered projects, scripts that stood out for their authenticity, the strength of the conflict and the relevance to the theme.

In the Feature Film category, the jury chose Adina Stetcu and Florin Baboi (team), Samah el Kadi and Sebastian Badarau as finalists. In the Miniseries category, Alexandru Molico, Ioana Bogdana, Laura Ilica and Vera Ion will advance to the next stage.

Over the past seven editions, WRITE A SCREENPLAY FOR… has reviewed over 1,500 projects, becoming a benchmark in supporting new voices in Romanian screenwriting. Among the program’s important achievements is the development of the script for the series “Spy/Master”, later produced by HBO Europe and selected in 2023 in the prestigious Berlinale Series section of the Berlin International Film Festival – a first for a Romanian project. Irina Huțu (PRO TV), Massimilliano Narduli and Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten formed this year’s jury.

American Independent Film Festival is also seen on the big screens in Timișoara

Between June 5 and 7, Timișoara will host the American Independent Film Festival (AIFF), transforming itself into a point of attraction for lovers of contemporary independent cinema. The 2026 edition offers a selection of captivating, emotional and socially impactful films, made by internationally acclaimed directors. Viewers will be able to watch Two People Exchange Saliva, The Testament of Ann Lee, Is This Thing On? and Queen at Sea. The screenings will take place at Cinema Timiș, and tickets can be purchased online, on the cinema’s website, or directly at the box office.

Come to AIFF.10 and support Declic

American Independent Film Festival supports the Declic campaign “We want the labeling of unhealthy foods!”, which calls for clear labels for products with a lot of sugar, salt and fat. The initiative comes in the context of Romania having the highest obesity rate in the EU, and 1 in 4 children is overweight. The goal is to better inform consumers, and AIFF will donate ticket proceeds to these